Regulators that deliver discrete charges of pressure controlled gas are employed in a wide variety of industries where discrete charges of pressurized gas are used to, for example, activate controls, provide control, fire projectiles, provide feedstock, diluent, catalyst, carrier, or fuel to processes, or the like. These industries share in common a need for a regulator that reliably delivers accurately metered amounts of gas at a controlled pressure and at scheduled times or on demand. One such industry that requires such discrete charges is the paintball game industry.
The popularity of paintball games has grown immensely, and with that growth there has been a proliferation of different types of paintball guns (sometimes described as markers), and the devices that are used in conjunction with these markers, such as regulators and compressed gas canisters. Improvements in markers and related devices have become necessary due to the increased level of play as players improve and hone their skills. Improvements in paintball equipment encourages improvements in the players abilities and skills, which in turn requires further improvements in the equipment. The early types of markers and related devices provided an adequate level of play. However, the onset of more experienced players, along with challenging paintball gun tournaments, now provides an arena where better markers and peripherals are required to sufficiently compete.
As used herein “canister” includes all manner of pressure vessels, including, but not limited to small portable bottles or tanks, large stationary tanks, tanks connected to compressors, metallic containers, composite plastic containers, single or plural use pressure vessels, or other sources of compressed gas, and the like.
Safety is a serious concern with any system where pressurized gas is confined or handled in the equipment. Canisters typically confine gas under several thousand pounds of pressure (psi). Regulators that are in gas receiving communication with such canisters are sometimes exposed to the pressure that is in the canister. Regulators generally function to regulate the pressure that associated applications are exposed to. Often such associated applications are not capable of withstanding the gas pressure that is in the canisters. Unexpected spikes in gas pressure are sometimes encountered by such canisters and associated regulators. Regulators must be designed to reliably prevent excessive gas pressure from reaching the associated applications. Regulators are typically designed with sufficient strength to confine and regulate pressurized gas with a safety factor of at least twice the maximum anticipated pressure. This safety requirement dictates that the regulator be constructed with sufficient mass to provide the required strength. This makes the regulator heavier and larger than desired in many systems. Improvements are needed in this area, but without compromising safety.
In general, in paintball games a marker is used to fire or shoot a paintball at an intended target. A discrete charge of compressed gas is delivered from a canister through a regulator to a paintball marker to propel a paintball towards the intended target. The flow of gas from the canister to the marker is not continuous. The marker or paintball gun is attached directly or indirectly through a suitable conduit to a regulator, which is in turn attached to a source of compressed gas, such as a canister. The regulator meters the volume and controls the pressure of a charge of gas that is delivered to the marker. Typically, during the initial phases of operation the pressure in the canister is several times the output pressure from the regulator. For example, the pressure in the canister may be as much as 3,000 to 4,500 pounds per square inch (psi) or more, and the designed output pressure from the regulator in paintball systems may be approximately 800 psi, more or less. For other systems the output pressure may range from as little as approximately 5 or 10 psi to as much as approximately 1,000 psi or more. The regulator delivers gas to the marker at a predetermined maximum pressure one discrete charge at a time. The regulator accepts pressurized gas from a canister until the pressure within the regulator reaches a predetermined value and then shuts off the flow into the regulator. In paintball games the charge of gas is held in the regulator for an indefinite period of time until the player fires the marker. That is, the charge is available instantaneously for on demand use. For some applications charges are released at previously scheduled regular or irregular intervals. Releasing the charge immediately exhausts the charge from the regulator and delivers it to the marker or other application. The regulator then seals itself from outputting gas to the marker and opens its inlet to receive another charge of gas from the canister, and the cycle of fill, hold, and discharge starts over.
Cycle rates (the maximum number of complete fill-hold-discharge cycles per second) should generally be in the order of at least approximately 2 to 10 cycles per second. Reliable cycle rates in excess of this may be required or desired for other applications. Improvements are needed in the number of reliable cycles (cycle rates) exhibited by application-regulator-canister systems.
The overall marker-regulator-canister system in a paintball gun application is awkward and heavy to handle and carry when the components are large and heavy. Even a small reduction in size and/or weight is significant in increasing the usability and enjoyment of using the system. Also, any increase in the number of shots that may be reliably obtained from a given system without recharging the canister significantly improves the play of the user. There is a need for such improvements.
Many paintball guns operate on compressed gas such as air or nitrogen or other gasses or mixtures of gasses. The players typically carry a supply of compressed gas with them as they compete. This supply is depleted after a certain number of cycles. Typically, the players have no means of replenishing this supply of compressed gas without returning to some central station removed from the playing field. Compact lightweight systems that extend the number of cycles that are available from one canister full of gas are much sought after by players.
Typically, paintball gun and other systems operate by drawing charges of compressed gas from a closed canister. An inherent characteristic of such systems is that the pressure in the closed canister drops with each discharge. Even if a compressor is attached to a canister, the pressure in the canister fluctuates between compression cycles as the compressor starts and stops. If, for example, a canister initially held gas at a pressure of 3,000 psi, and a prior regulator was set to deliver charges of gas to an application at approximately 800 psi, such regulators generally ceased to operate or became erratic or unreliable in at least the recharging phase of their operating cycle as soon as the pressure in the canister dropped below approximately 800 psi. A player or operator then had to choose between attempting to continue play with a system that was at best unreliable, abandon the field of play or interrupt play to refill the canister. Such erratic behavior included slow recharging (not refilling the chamber in the regulator quickly enough), under filling (not filling to the maximum pressure available from the canister), flutter of the inlet valve, failing to operate at all, and the like.
A regulator should be able to recharge to the maximum pressure available from the canister several times a second to keep up with the pace of play demanded by competitive players or the demands of an operator in other industries. As the pressure in the canister drops below the pressure at which the regulator is set the performance of the system inherently degrades, but the degrading should follow a predictable curve. This enables a player to predict what the performance of the system will be for each shot even though the performance characteristics change from shot to shot. The ability to reliably utilize at least some part of the remaining gas in a canister when the canister pressure drops below that at which the regulator is set would provide substantial advantages in playing paintball games, and in other applications. The same concerns exist in other industries where discrete charges of gas are used. Where, for example, reactions, equipment or process controls are accomplished or activated by a predetermined charge of gas it is critical that the performance of the regulator be consistent and reliable. There is a clear and significant need for improvement in this area.
There are safety concerns with devices that operate on compressed gas. If the pressure in the canister exceeds the pressure rating for the canister, there must be an immediate relief of the pressure in the canister to avoid an explosion. Likewise, if the pressure within the regulator exceeds the pressure that the associated application or the regulator itself can safely accommodate, then there must be an immediate relief of the pressure in the regulator. The relief of the pressure in either the canister or the regulator should be accomplished in such a way that the operator is not exposed to any hazards. There is need for improvement in this area.
Any regulator in a marker-regulator-canister system that safely provides a reduced size and weight advantage and extends the period of play or other use while remaining reliable and consistent would be uniquely advantageous. As such, there is a great need in the field of paintball systems and other systems for such regulators.
Examples of regulators for regulating pressurized gas that is delivered from a canister to a paintball gun or a marker are illustrated in Colby U.S. Pat. No. Des. 357,967, Colby U.S. Pat. No. 6,543,475, Colby U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,722, Carroll U.S. Pat. No. 6,851,447, Carroll U.S. Pat. No. 6,363,964, Gabrel U.S. Pat. No. 7,004,192, Gabrel U.S. Pat. No. 7,188,640, Gabrel U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,391, and Gabrel U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,046, each of which is hereby incorporated by reference as if fully set forth herein. Colby U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,722 discloses a piston type regulator wherein pressurized gas is injected through the body of the housing to recharge an attached pressure vessel. The pressurized gas flows past part of the regulator mechanism through the same channel that gas is discharged from the attached pressure vessel to the regulator. Gabrel U.S. Pat. No. 7,004,192, and these other Gabrel patents are similar in design to the Colby U.S. Pat. No. 6,405,722 piston type regulator except that Gabrel provides an on-off valve in the discharge channel that may be closed during filling of the attached pressure vessel to protect the regulating mechanism from the high pressure gas flow. A separate fill passageway runs into the pressure vessel through a side wall of the coupling that attaches to the pressure vessel.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a regulator for compressed gas that is safe, light-weight, compact, reliable, and that exhibits predictable charge-hold-discharge cycle characteristics, particularly when operated at canister pressures below the maximum pressure at which the regulator is set to deliver discrete charges. There is a need for the combination of these features in one regulator.